There was no Friday the 13th doom-and-gloom for the WACO Warrior football team on Friday night, as they pounded past their Henry County rivals Winfield-Mount Union for a homecoming victory at Roth Field in Wayland by a final score of 40-24. WMU began things on offense, and their first drive of the game was stopped in its tracks, as the WACO defense rose to the occasion on a 4th-and-1 from the WMU 24. WACO couldn’t convert the turnover on downs into points, however, as Niles Reichenbach missed a 23-yard field goal to give the ball back to the Wolves. The missed kick would prove costly for the Warriors, as it only took one play for WMU to strike back, when a Jake Edwards long bomb connected with Nicholas Sparrow to give the Wolves a 6-0 lead after the failed 2-point conversion. After the kickoff return, WACO was set up in great field position, and they cashed in immediately with a 38-yard Louden Huisenga scamper to give them the lead after the PAT by Niles Reichenbach split the uprights. The one-play scoring drive streak stood true once again, as WMU found the end zone on another 65-yard strike, this time via the legs of Jake Edwards to give the Wolves the lead once more. The one-upping continued as WACO nearly saw Sophomore Hayden Shelman bring his fourth kick return of the season to the house, but unfortunately was tackled at the 5-yard line of WMU. In their second straight play that resulted in a touchdown, Louden Huisenga was able to punch it in to give the home Warriors the lead back once again at 14-12. Things would stay tied until the first play of the second quarter, when Huisenga again found pay dirt from five yards away to pad the WACO lead. After a Cody Milks pick later in the quarter, WMU was able to put a scoring drive together before halftime to keep things close at 20-18. Out of the locker rooms, Hayden Shelman gave the Warrior faithful the play of the night when he broke his fourth kickoff return for a touchdown to give WACO a 26-18 lead. Both sides would trade scores before the quarter was over. In the fourth, Louden Huisenga was able to seal the homecoming victory for the Warriors with a 37-yard touchdown run, the final score from either side the remainder of the night.

This was the most yards in an Area Game of the Week contest in 2024, with a combined 843 yards between the two squads. WMU won the yardage contest 432-411 thanks to some long passing plays. WACO quarterback Clayton Miller went 12/24 for 118 yards and had 12 carries for 79 yards. Louden Huisenga had a homecoming to remember, compiling 152 yards on 19 carries, scoring five rushing touchdowns. Huisenga also caught four passes for 54 yards. Fellow Senior Gage Samo finished with three catches for 12 yards. WMU quarterback Jake Edwards was 12/26 for 248 yards and two touchdowns. Edwards nearly went over the century mark with his legs too, finishing with 92 yards and a rushing touchdown. Lane Genkinger toted the rock 15 times for 86 yards and a touchdown, as well as had seven receptions for 128 yards and a score. Nicholas Sparrow ended the night with three receptions for 85 yards and a touchdown.

WACO Head Coach Chad Edeker joined KCII Sports on the postgame show to talk about his team’s homecoming victory. “We made some mistakes, but we just kept coaching what we taught them all week. It was a hard-fought game. Those are fun to coach and fun for the kids,” Edeker said.

WMU Head Coach Scott McCarty also joined us on the postgame show to talk about his team’s first loss of the season. “We learned some things on defense we’ve got to shore up, and offense there was some different schematic things that gave us some issues. We’ve got to make sure we clean that up for the rest of the season,” McCarty said.

With the win, WACO moves to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in district play, while WMU falls to 2-1 and 1-1 in district play. WACO is on the road next week at HLV, while WMU hosts Montezuma. The KCII Area Game of the Week will stay in 8-Man action next week, as we travel over to southeastern Johnson County to Lone Tree in a matchup between the home Lions and Springville.